by Tony Nalley
I turned then and I saw that Cricket had been watchin’ me. And then she leaned over to me smilin’ sweetly, and tenderly kissed me on the cheek. And then she nudged me playfully, right after I’d leaned over and kissed her back!
A gun shot rang out just then from somewhere afar off in the woods! And the herd of deer thunderously scattered!
A flock of birds flew off in all directions as Cricket placed her hand to her mouth to catch her breath! And then she giggled.
“Whew! I thought they’d got us!” she said and then we both breathed deeply and let go a sigh of relief.
We got up from our cover then and walked over to the entranceway between the tall bushes. And Cricket pointed to the grey wooden doors with rusted metal hinges.
“Nobody else knows about this doorway?” I asked.
“Nobody else knows about it.” She answered back. “I’ve been comin’ this way for as far back as I can remember.”
As Cricket uncovered the entrance from beneath the camouflage of grown up weeds and brush, and as me and her pried open those creaky wooden doors, I thought about how old she might be. I mean, she looked to be about my age if not a little bit younger and she acted like she was my age and all. But I reasoned that if the Stone of Blood was able to make those other people live forever, could it be keepin’ her young too?
And was this girl that I had kissed …just moments ago, a ‘werewolf’?
“How old are you Cricket?” I asked her as I undid my knapsack and handed her one of the flashlights that I had brought with me from earlier that mornin’.
Cricket turned the flashlight on and looked down into the darkened chasm as we slowly stepped down into its tunnels. And then she turned around and pointed the light in my face and laughed!
“I’m the same age as you are!” she said actin’ like I was silly for even askin’ her. “Maybe!” she continued sayin’, stretchin’ out that last word with a long ‘a’ sound.
“What do you mean ‘Maybe’?” I asked repeatin’ that word the same way she’d said it.
“How old do you want me to be Toby?” She asked me in reply and turned the light of the flashlight back towards the darkened passageway.
“I don’t know.” I answered back. “As old as you are I reckon’.”
“Well good!” she said as she come runnin’ back really fast and kissed me on my nose. “Cause that’s exactly how old I am!” And then she ran off down the passageway again, teasin’ at me flirty-like to make me follow her.
“Girls!” I thought to myself rollin’ my eyes around in my head. “I aint never gonna figure em’ out!”
This time through the cavern was different than last time. This time it wasn’t as scary. I mean, not that I was a ‘scaredy cat’ or ‘chicken’ or nothin’ the last time I had walked within the cave. But that time, it was a completely different thing. Cause I didn’t even know nothin’ about this place or the ‘werewolves’ then. And Cricket knew where she was leadin’ me too, so it took alot of the guess work out of it for me.
The passage walls here were of old mortar and rock like those within the Grand Hall but they were different somehow, hewn of a darker stone. Cricket walked upon these smooth stoned floors just as swiftly as she had trod through the paths in the woods. But the cave floor was colder here with her not wearin’ any shoes and all.
This girl was daring and unafraid, and unlike any other girl that I had ever known.
“I used to come here to play sometimes, whenever it was rainin’ outside, or if I had no where else to go.” Cricket said as she showed me a closed in alcove room. “The sound of the rain fallin’ outside kinda echoes through here and it makes me feel like I’m not alone so much.”
“Have you been alone alot?” I asked her as I viewed the rooms high ceilin’ and the light rays that seemed to come in through the top of it like small beams of different shades of color.
“I feel like I have, yes.” She answered. “I’ve been bounced around alot, you know from family to family? Never really knowin’ where I belong.”
I watched her as she looked off into the distance, in silent reflection and then as she looked back again at me.
“It can get pretty lonesome sometimes, like bein’ throwed away I guess, unwanted.” she said.
I would never have imagined that someone who could seem to be as free spirited and alive as Cricket seemed to be, whether she was out in the fields ridin’ her horse or even if she were just simply outside lookin’ at that herd of deer, could ever feel like she was alone or unwanted. I had come from a close knit family myself, where we were always there for one another; so much so that sometimes we would have liked to have had a break from one another. And we could have really used some of that ‘alone’ time! But I never felt unwanted. Not never.
I knew that this wasn’t somethin’ that I was gonna be able to fix. I couldn’t go back into Cricket’s past and make all of her hurtin’ and loneliness go away. But I could be her friend now I reasoned. And I could be there to listen to her, if she ever needed to talk.
So I didn’t say nothin’, I just reached out and I took her hand and I walked with her.
As we walked through the passageways, through twistin’ and windin’ corridors I listened as Cricket talked to me about her life. She talked about her horses and she told me about her animals. And she told me about the father that she never knew.
She also told me terrible stories about a step-father that she had once had, who had treated her very badly. And I’d have to say that I had to calm myself down right then and there in that cave cause of what he’d done to her! It made me so mad that I wanted to go find him and just kill him dead! But I had to remind myself that I wasn’t there to fix nothin’, and Cricket wasn’t expectin’ me to do so neither! She just needed me to listen. So that’s just what I done. I listened. But that didn’t mean that the part of me that wanted to be her protector didn’t get mad! Cause I did!
As Cricket continued to pour out her heart to me, I listened. And I noticed that the cavern tunnels on this side of the quarry weren’t as naturally formed as they were on the other side leadin’ over to my house. There weren’t any natural alcoves here with stalagmites and stalactites or anythin’ remotely resemblin’ a cave. These tunnels took spells between lookin’ like handmade walls and walls that were formed much like those you might find in a mine shaft where people would dig for gold or diamonds or somethin’.
“Okay, stand right there Toby.” Cricket said as she stopped walkin’ and let go of my hand. “Now turn off your flashlight.”
“Turn off my flashlight?” I questioned as hers went dark.
“Yes, turn it off and stand right there.” She answered. “Don’t move!”
I turned off my flashlight and the whole wide world went black! And we stood there beside one another quietly in the dark. I could hear her breathin’ to the right of me, and I could feel my heart beatin’. It was like we were in a world within’ a world, as if we were the only two people in all of existence.
“Sit down with me Toby.” Cricket whispered as she grabbed for my hand and pulled me down onto the cool cavern floor in the dark. We sat there beside one another for a few silent moments and I placed my arm around her to keep her warm.
“Toby.” She whispered. “If we find that stone and break the spell …am I gonna die?”
I think it was at that moment that my heart just broke for that girl. I could feel her cryin’ by the way her body shook beside me in the dark. But I didn’t know what to say. So I just said what I knew.
“I don’t think so Cricket.” I whispered back to her as I held her close beside me. “I think that God has got a special purpose for you and for your life.” I whispered again as I tried to think of somethin’ smarter and wiser to say. But all that I had was what I remembered.
“My mama says that ‘Our purpose may be that we are here to meet one person, for one moment and be the witness and light in that one person’s life.’” I whispered to her.
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nbsp; I was feelin’ really warm inside then and I knew that I was havin’ feelin’s in my stomach like butterflies or somethin’ like I had never had before. And I also knew that no matter how I said what I was gonna say next, it was gonna come out soundin’ stupid and dumb like a pick up line or somethin’. But with her, I’d rather be thought of as dumb or stupid then to not tell her how I was feelin’. And since nobody else but her was in there to listen to me make a fool of myself, I decided to just come on out with it and say what was on my mind.
“Cricket.” I whispered in her ear. “I think you are that light.”
And she laid her head on my shoulder.
As we sat there quietly for the next few moments in the cavern in the dark, I thought about how I used to not want to have any part in growin’ up, cause my whole life was changin’ so fast and I wasn’t gonna get to be a kid no more.
But suddenly, sittin’ right there beside that girl I didn’t mind growin’ up.
I figured that if this was Neverland and I was Peter Pan, I would be willin’ to give up playin’ pirates to be with that Wendy girl.
Cause in those still quiet moments, holdin’ Cricket as she cried …I decided that I didn’t wanna be a lost boy any more.
Twenty Four
Crescent Moon
‘The world is changing. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air.’- These were the words that filled my mind as Cricket led me even deeper into the caverns hold within the darkness of the ‘werewolf’ cave. While I had no fear of where my journey might end, I had much uneasiness for what it might hold in store for me as I was gettin’ there; and I wondered where it might lead. For if I were a character within the pages of a Tolkiens’ book, what part would it be that I would play? Would I play the part of a hobbit, returnin’ to MountDoom to destroy the one ring? Or would I play the part of a boy who was charmed into releasin’ those same evils back unto this middle earth?
The tunnels opened up for us now from the once narrowed mine-like shafts into a much larger cave-like hollow with high reachin’ ceilin’s and fissures that seemed to drop off into bottomless voids to our right and left as we walked. Our footsteps echoed throughout the recesses of the chasm as did our words as we spoke. So we lowered our voices to those of mere whispers when we remembered to do so, and we walked along as swiftly and as quietly as we could.
“How much further til we reach the Grand Hall?” I asked louder than I expected to and the sound of my words echoed throughout the cavern.
“It’s just up ahead.” Cricket whispered in answer. “There’s a small underground stream that flows through here just a little ways up. It empties out into a warm mineral spring on the other side of the cavern.”
I remembered that spring. I had been there before.
“That spring is really good for swimmin’ in!” Cricket whispered. “The water is heavier kinda, thicker, and you can float real easy. The Chamber room lays just the other side of the stream up ahead. Just hold tight Toby. I’ll get you there. I promise.”
This was the second time that I had been in the cave. And just like before, while there had been the possibility of bein’ discovered or runnin’ into someone or somethin’ unnatural, we hadn’t done so. And I had to wonder why.
As we reached the underground stream we both sat down again and rested for a few minutes.
And Cricket put her feet in the water.
“This feels good and warm, Toby!” Cricket said as she moved her feet around in the water and reached down and splashed some upon her legs. “You should try it!”
“I’m not takin’ my shoes off!” I said. “Uh uh …not me!”
And I shook my head ‘no’ as she laughed at me. Not a bad kind of makin’ fun of me kind of laugh, just one of those kinds of a cute laughs that I didn’t mind so much.
“Cricket.” I said. “Where is everybody? How come we haven’t seen anyone?”
“Mostly cause nobody ever comes in here anymore.” she said. “This bigger part of the cave is mostly forgotten about. Mainly when they come, they come into the Chamber room areas and that’s pretty much it. And usually, they only come then durin’ special occasions like under the seasons of the moon.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “What seasons of the moon?”
As Cricket continued to sit by the stream with her toes in the water, kickin’ her feet up and splashin’ me from time to time, she told me of the moons. “The full moon names,” she said, “…dated back to the times of the ancient peoples, when they kept track of the seasons by givin’ the moon cycles different names. The Wolf Moon.” she said, “…was so named for the month of January when the wolf packs would howl outside of their villages, while the Snow Moon or Hunger Moon,” she continued, “…would light up the skies in February, the coldest and hardest times for their hunters to provide food for their tribes.”
She went on to tell me that, “The Crow Moon casts its light upon the skies of March signaling the end of the winter with the return of the cawing Crow.” And that the, “Fish Moon of April signaled to them that the fish would return to their spawnin’ waters upstream.”
I listened further as Cricket told me that the, “The Flower Moon was named for its season in May followed by the Strawberry Moon or Rose Moon of June.” And she said that, “The moon of July was named the Buck Moon or Thunder Moon as it was normally the month when the buck deer grew new antlers and when thunderstorms were the most frequent.” She went on to say that, “The Red Moon was so named for August as it appeared reddish through the month’s sultry haze.” And then she told me that, “the Harvest Moon occurs in September which is the full moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox.”
An equinox I knew occurred twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis was not leanin’ towards the Sun, with the center of the Sun bein’ in the same plane as the Earth's equator. It made the earth’s days as long as its nights.
“The Hunters Moon is the full moon of October. It’s also known as the Blood Moon, Toby.” Cricket told me. “This Moon …holds a special meaning.”
Cricket looked at me seriously then, lifted her feet up from out of the water, and sat cross legged while drippin’ water on the caverns floor. She looked me in the eye and whispered matter of factly to me and said, “Toby, the Blood Moon is the Feasting Moon.”
I didn’t know exactly what she had meant by a ‘Feasting Moon’ but I had good idea. I also remembered the story that Ms. Lillie had told to me …the story of the dark prophecy of the Blood Moon. My mind imagined what her story might’ve meant and what the choice words that Cricket had used might hold in store. I saw visions in my imagination of unholy things! And I remembered the campfire where we’d first seen em’, Colby and me, with the smoke risin’ from the fires as they cackled in the night! Flickerin’ shafts of light dancin’ through the trees as their shadows where cast in direct contrast to the light of what I now knew was the Thunder Moon!
And I remembered the ones who’d come to us in sheep’s clothing; and the one who had lingered in the darkness slightly outside of the light. Were these ‘the others’ Ms. Lillie had warned me about? These who had no fear of bein’ discovered in their darkened state, their truer form.
Had it been one of these who had stood behind me that mornin’ as I had stood before our barn, and up on our hill out in the field? Were these the ones who had chased me into my house?
I had to wonder that if they were so good at hunting; would they not know where I was now?
Colby had said that ‘werewolves’ could hear you think.’ But could that really be possible? Or could it be that Colby had just had a slip of the tongue? Maybe he had meant to say that they could hear so good that it was like they could hear you think? I knew he wasn’t exactly an expert on the subject, but he had seen more movies about em’ then I had! I didn’t know if what he’d said was true, but the thought of it made my head hurt! So I stopped thinkin’ about it, and got up off of the cold hard floor. And with Cricket’
s help, we found a shallow part of the underground stream and we crossed it.
The cavern began to take on a familiar shape as we entered the passageways that were leadin’ us to the Chamber. I remembered the Grand Hall and how it was that we had first came to discover it. There were heavy wooden and metal doors here. They were still locked, and I still wasn’t sure what the rooms behind em’ were for.
“Were these rooms used for anythin’ important?” I asked as we walked past the doors runnin’ my fingers along their hardened metal bars and hinges.
“I don’t know for sure.” Cricket answered. “When they built this place they were probably used for storing foods like grains and stuff like that. Some of them with the bars on em’ were converted; they used them to lock people in!”
